Community Forums

RonLC · 06-19-2019, 06:55 AM

May I tell my wife that RVTW generated routes are RV friendly?

We are leaving West Yellowstone next week for Banff via Glacier NP. She is worried that some of the roads along the RVTW route might be white knuckle for her.

We are not newbies but she tends to fret a little at times.

pbucha · 06-19-2019, 07:35 AM

Currently RV Trip Wizard only warns you about low clearances and lets you route around them. There is an upgrade coming very soon that is supposed to be RV Friendly and take height, weight, length, and propane status into consideration and route an RV Safe route for you automatically. I think it's probably only a week or two away.

Sue46 · 06-19-2019, 08:13 AM

The RV LIfe App(new recently) which is part of the same corporation has this available. No matter what an app says it does I would take it all with a large grain of salt and verify.

What is OK for one person is not OK for another so I don't see how an app can do what you want.

If you get onto a road that she is uncomfortable on and she is driving, take over the driving for that road.

Victory Blue · 06-19-2019, 08:28 AM

Welcome.

The addition of RV size criteria to RVTW, as mentioned above, will add to your route confidence, but it’s not there right now.

I’ve found that, even using a GPS-based, RV specific nav system, it’s a good idea to “fly” the non-interstate part of the route I’m going to be driving using Google maps in satellite mode. I look specifically for tight turns and switchbacks and sections of the route that might expand out to 4 lanes. I also look for the presence of semi trailer trucks that might have been on the route when the satellite photos were taken; if there are trucks my confidence level goes up.

Flying the route also allows me to double check that the route takes me to exactly the right destination and not just close because the nav software couldn’t resolve the address.

Sue46 · 06-19-2019, 08:43 AM

You might want to get the RM Truckers

Atlas.

RonLC · 06-19-2019, 09:02 AM

Great answers. Thanks.

So, what criteria does RVTW use for going from A to B? Shortest distance, mostly freeways, scenic, Google Directions?

The routes that I have seen so far and used since having the app were just fine.

Dr. Q · 06-19-2019, 09:37 AM

Per an email, I had this week from RV Life support, the RV routing they are using in the new app is coming to RV Trip Wizard in the next few weeks. They told me they are still using Google Maps [right now] for the maps, but not Google routing, in preparation for the upcoming changeover.

If anyone is interested in the new RV Life App GPS and Campgrounds, you get a discount for being an RV Trip Wizard subscriber.

Let's hope we see a new RV Trip Wizard update in the very near future!

sartor · 10-02-2019, 05:03 PM

Saw mention above of "coming soon" with respect to RV Trip Wizard taking *weight* into account. That post was 6/19/2019, and it's now 10/2/2019. Today I discovered that RV Trip Wizard was routing me one way (on Buford Dam Road near Lake Lanier in Georgia), but my Garmin kept warning me about a 6-ton bridge ahead (my RV is about 15 tons). I wasn't sure which to believe, and I really *wanted* to go the RV Trip Wizard route. But when I reached the actual SIGN in the road telling me there was a 6-ton bridge ahead, I figured I'd better turn around.

So...anyone know about the status of RV Trip Wizard taking *weight* into account? Is it supposed to be doing that already? Do I need an update? I just updated the software to the latest two days ago (or at least it *claims* I've got the latest).

Tom

timjet · 10-03-2019, 05:51 AM

I can't comment on RVTW routing taking into account weight limit bridges, but I can with Garmin. Three times my Garmin RV-660 warned me about a bridge or bridges that were not weight certified for my RV. All 3 times the GPS was using old data. The first 2 times I called the CG and both times they told me the bridge leading to their CG had been upgraded years ago. The third time, a few weeks ago, I ignored the GPS re-routing due to a weight limited bridge (the road with the bridge was leading to the CG, my destination) and upon approaching the bridge I saw no signs limiting the weight on the bridge. My GPS maps were updated about a year ago.

pbucha · 10-03-2019, 08:11 AM

All of those features should be active. Can you confirm your trip was set to RV Routing?
I'd love to know exactly where that bridge is to do some testing myself.

Sue46 · 10-03-2019, 01:52 PM

We just went to Cedar Breaks and the road the info center is on has a 26000 lb limit. That should work for testing.

pbucha · 10-03-2019, 03:27 PM

Thanks Sue. I tested this and RV Trip Wizard would NOT route me down the 148 through Cedar Breaks until I dropped my RV weight to 21,000lbs.

Sue46 · 10-03-2019, 03:37 PM

I would think Tim will reply soon. He was up in Alaska the same time I was, about 2 weeks behind me. We are still working our way back so he is also.

Alaska is one long, hard trip.

timjet · 10-04-2019, 04:54 AM

My comment about bridge weight warnings was with my Garmin GPS RV 660. It has warned me 3 times when no restriction existed. Earlier this month in IL returning from AK, my GPS routed me around a bridge that had be upgraded.